JP2002066967A - Structuring method of robot motion descriptive language, and indicating method and editing method of structured robot motion descriptive language - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To structure a robot motion descriptive language while maintaining the interchangeability with an existing robot motion descriptive language, to display a large volume of the program data in an easily observing manner, to convert the data by the intuitive operation, and to change the program step order by the intuitive operation. SOLUTION: The main-sub relationship is set in various kinds of data of a robot and managed by introducing an object management structure. Regarding the display, readability of the data is improved based on the tree structure. By enabling the drag-and-drop in each object, the value set in a different coordinate system by the intuitive operation, and the order of the program step can be changed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is applied to software for a robot-related man-machine interface product, and comprises a method for structuring a robot motion description language and displaying the structured robot motion description language. Method and editing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of creating and editing an operation program of a robot, (1) an operation description language mainly composed of characters is described, and (2) various information is set for each program step. Are registered sequentially,
The two types of techniques were common. In the description in the operation description language (1), the operator needs to be proficient in the language. In addition, since the display is mainly composed of characters, it is difficult to grasp the data structure and the mutual relationship. Furthermore, since the language itself is not aware of structuring,
Since all data is handled globally, the burden of data management on the operator is large. In the method of (2) for creating data following program steps, information is set for each step, so that the prospect of creating an operation program is poor. In addition, since movement between steps is performed before and after each step, if the number of program steps increases, it takes time and effort to reach a target program step at the time of editing, resulting in poor operability.

[0003]

As described above, conventionally, the following two types of methods have been generally used as methods for creating and editing a robot operation program. 1. 1. Description using a behavior description language mainly composed of characters Set various information for each program step. An example of a program described by using the above behavior description language is shown in the following list of Expression 1.

[0004]

(Equation 1)

[0005] The contents of the operation program prog1 are described between .PROGRAM prog1 and .END.
The registered conversion value (position data) is described between ANS and .END. The operation of prog1 is as follows. 1st step: p0 set in the robot coordinate system
Operate to a conversion value of 01. Second step: Operate to the conversion value of p002 set in the work coordinate system of work_base. Third step: Operate to the conversion value of p003 set in the work coordinate system of work_base. By describing in this way, even if the work moves, just by modifying the work coordinate system work_base, p002, p
The robot can be moved to the intended position without correcting 003. However, p001, p002, p003
However, since it is not explicitly shown in which coordinate system the value is defined, the operator himself has to be careful in describing the value, which is complicated and often involves errors.

[0006] 2. FIG. 5 shows an outline of an interface when registering a program step by the method of (1). A method of setting various information for each program step is disclosed in, for example, a robot teaching device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-254527. The operator operates the robot,
After setting the step information (interpolation method, speed, accuracy, timer, etc.), an operation of registering the step is performed. Therefore, there is a feature that the operation program of the robot can be created without knowing the operation description language. However, since information is set for each step, there is a drawback that the visibility at the time of creating the program is poor. Further, when the amount of data is large, it takes time to reach a target step, and there is a disadvantage that work efficiency is poor. The present invention
It is to improve these disadvantages.

[0007] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-44219 discloses that
A robot simulator device that manages and displays data necessary for teaching a robot, such as a teaching position and an operating speed, as objects, and generates a robot controller language by appropriately combining these objects. Since the present invention is to structure an existing robot operation description language and to improve the display / editing method, it can also handle an existing robot operation description language, that is, utilize data accumulated in the past. That is excellent.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points. An object of the present invention is to introduce a mechanism for managing the parent-child relationship of objects, called an object management structure, into a conventional robot system. An object of the present invention is to provide a method capable of setting and managing a parent-child relationship in data and structuring a robot operation description language while maintaining the conventional compatibility. It is another object of the present invention to provide a display method in which a large amount of program data can be easily viewed and displayed, and the data structure and the interrelation can be easily grasped by a data display based on a tree structure using an object management structure. It is another object of the present invention to automatically convert values set in different coordinate systems and change the order of program steps by intuitive operation by enabling drag and drop for each object. An object of the present invention is to provide an editing method that can be used.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a method for structuring a robot motion description language according to the present invention comprises:
A tree structure data management method using an object management structure that sets and manages parent-child relationships for various types of robot data while maintaining compatibility with existing robot motion description languages.
It is configured to structure the robot motion description method. Further, the method for displaying a structured robot motion description language according to the present invention is characterized in that various data of a robot are displayed in an easily viewable manner by a data display method based on a tree structure to which the above method is applied.

Further, the editing method of the structured robot motion description language according to the present invention is an intuitive method for converting coordinate data displayed based on a tree structure to which the above method is applied, using a pointing device (mouse or the like). It is characterized in that coordinate conversion is automatically performed by performing an operation. The method for editing a structured robot motion description language according to the present invention includes the steps of: displaying a program step displayed based on a tree structure to which the above method is applied, by performing an intuitive operation using a pointing device. The order is changed.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and can be implemented with appropriate modifications. . FIG. 1 shows an example of a software user interface for a robot to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the software for a robot when the present invention is applied uses a tree structure data management method using an “object management structure” while maintaining compatibility with an existing robot operation description language. Robot software with a method for structuring a robot motion description method. FIG.
Is software for a robot provided with a method for displaying various data of a robot in an easy-to-view manner by a data display method based on a tree structure shown in FIG. Also, a software for a robot having a method of automatically performing coordinate conversion on coordinate data displayed based on the tree structure shown in FIG. 1 by performing an intuitive operation using a pointing device such as a mouse. It is. Further, the robot software includes a method of changing the order of steps by performing intuitive operations using a pointing device on program steps displayed based on the tree structure shown in FIG.

In the example of FIG. 1, there are two robots and one work in the work space. Each axis value registered in “robot R1” is “each axis value R1-J1”, “each axis value R1-J2”, and the registered conversion value is “conversion value R1-T1”. , “Converted value R1-T2”. "Robot R1"
Are registered as "program R1-P1", "program R1-P2"... "Program R1-P1" is composed of program steps "S1", "S2". -P2 "is composed of program steps" S1 "," S2 ",... Similarly, in the “robot R2”, each axis value, conversion value, operation program, and the like are registered. In “Work W1”, “Conversion value W1-T1” and “Coordinate system W1-X1” are registered.
In the “coordinate system W1-X1”, “converted values W1X1-T1” are registered.

(1) Operation image of software to which the present invention is applied “Conversion value W1-T1” registered in “Work W1”
Is added to "robot R1" as a conversion value. According to the conventional operation description language, it is necessary to manually convert the operation destination point to the robot coordinate system.Specifically,-(installation position R1-P of robot R1) + (installation position of work W1) W1-P) + (conversion value W1-T1) had to be described.
According to the software to which the present invention is applied, the “converted value W1-T
If you drag and drop `` 1 '' to the registered conversion value of `` Robot R1 '', this operation converts the conversion value `` Conversion value W1-T1 '' registered in `` Work W1 '' to the value in `` Robot R1 '' The process of registering with "Robot R1" is performed automatically.

[0014] Also, consider an operation of additionally registering "each axis value R2-J1" registered in "robot R2" as a conversion value in "robot R1". According to the conventional operation description language, (temporary conversion value TMP1) = (each axis value R2-J1 of robot R2) ... (temporary conversion value TMP1) = (temporary conversion value TMP1) + ( Tool conversion value of robot R2 R2-T1)…-(Installation position R1-P of robot R1) + (Installation position R2-P of robot R2) + (temporary conversion value TMP1)… . Use to convert each axis value to converted value in order, correct the tool converted value with, and use `` Robot R
1 ”. According to the software to which the present invention is applied, “each axis value R2-J1” is replaced with “robot R
By dragging and dropping to the registered conversion value of “1”, this operation temporarily converts each axis value “each axis value R2-J1” registered in “Robot R2” to a conversion value,
The process of converting into the conversion value in "1" and registering it in "robot R1" is automatically performed.

Now, consider the operation of editing the operation program “program R1-P1” registered in “robot R1”. At the time of step addition / editing, the above-mentioned FIG.
Is displayed, and the operator sets information. The program steps are displayed in the order of operation, and the order can be freely changed by drag and drop. If the number of steps is too large to be displayed, the screen can be scrolled to quickly display the necessary area. The step displays a step number, step information (interpolation method, speed, accuracy, timer, etc.), an operation target point, and the like, so that work can be performed with good visibility.

(2) Object Management Structure In order to enable the above-described operations, a new concept called "object" and a new object management structure are introduced. The “object” is an abstraction of various data of the robot, and is an item appearing in FIG. Specifically, not only real objects such as "robot", "tool", and "work", but also data such as "coordinate system", "each axis value", "conversion value", and "robot operation program" , "Program steps" and the like. The "object" has a parent-child relationship. For example, in the relationship of "tool" mounted on "robot", "robot" is a parent and "tool" is a child.

Each object has a one-to-one correspondence with an "object management structure" which holds data necessary for managing the mutual relationship between the objects. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the object management structure. "Object management structure" includes pointers such as "pointers to data", "pointers to parent structure", and "pointers to child structures", and "data identifiers" indicating the properties of objects. Is included. Each object has a group of pointers to one or more data managed by the object. The number of data managed by an object changes depending on the nature of the object. For example, "conversion value"
In the case of, only the vector data representing that need be managed, but in the case of "robot", it is necessary to manage a lot of information such as "model data" such as model name and robot-specific parameters, "installation position" . With this object management structure, the mutual relation of various data required by the robot system is set and handled as tree structure data.

(3) Method for Realizing Automatic Conversion by Drag and Drop The “conversion value W1-T” registered in the “work W1” described above.
Consider an operation of additionally registering “1” as a conversion value in “robot R1”. FIG. 3 shows a conversion procedure by drag and drop. In order to realize this operation, once convert to a value in the coordinate system of the working space (reference coordinate system),
What is necessary is just to convert into the coordinate system of a robot. The specific procedure is as follows. Since the conversion source and the conversion destination are known, first, the pointer of the parent object is sequentially traced from the conversion source to the reference coordinate system. At this time, by performing a conversion operation as needed, the value of the conversion source can be converted to a value in the reference coordinate system. Similarly, the pointer of the parent object is sequentially traced from the conversion destination to the reference coordinate system. At this time, a conversion matrix from the reference coordinate system to the conversion destination is obtained by calculating a conversion matrix as needed. Finally, the value of the reference coordinate system is applied to the transformation matrix to obtain the value of the transformation destination. "Each axis value R2-J1" registered in "Robot R2" described above
The operation of additionally registering as a conversion value in “robot R1” can be converted in the same manner. When the conversion source is each axis value, it is necessary to perform a work of temporarily converting to the converted value. However, the conversion work may be performed as necessary by judging from the object identifier.

(4) Method of realizing program step editing Consider editing a program. The relationship as shown in FIG. 4 is constructed using the object management structure for the program and the program step. Now, when inserting a step between step n and step n + 1, the insertion step may be set as a child of step n and set as the parent of step n + 1 at the same time, and the parent-child relationship between step n and step n + 1 may be cut off. The rearrangement of steps can be dealt with by the same procedure.
Also, when each axis value, conversion value, etc. is dragged and dropped into the program, adding a move command to that value facilitates the creation of the program, and burdens the operator. Can be reduced. By constructing such a data structure, in response to the operation performed by the operator, the operation required by the object identifier is determined while tracing the pointer of the parent and child, and the operation is automatically performed. The burden on the operator can be reduced.

In the operation program created in the conventional programming language, the parent-child relationship of each data is not specified, as shown in the above-mentioned list of Expression 1. When reading such an operation program, the robot may be arranged at the origin of the reference coordinate system, read in a state where the robot coordinate system matches the reference coordinate system, and then reset to an arbitrary installation position. Since the operation program of the robot and the data for object management are separately stored and referred to by the pointer, it is not necessary to modify the software of the conventional robot system, and the object management program may be added. Also, make sure that the output operation program does not include data for object management,
If the management data is output separately, it can be directly executed by the conventional robot system.

[0021]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects. (1) By introducing a mechanism for managing the parent-child relationship of objects into a conventional robot system, a robot operation description method can be structured while maintaining the conventional compatibility. (2) Since the data is displayed in a list based on the tree structure, it is easy to grasp the data structure and the interrelationship. (3) Data defined in different coordinate systems can be easily converted by intuitive operation. (4) The program step order can be changed by intuitive operation. (5) Even for a large amount of data, only necessary parts can be displayed, and the display is easy to see.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an example of a software user interface for a robot to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of an object management structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a procedure of automatic conversion by drag and drop according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for inserting a program step according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an example of a conventional interface for registering information for each program step.

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A tree structure data management method using an object management structure that sets and manages a parent-child relationship for various data of a robot, while maintaining compatibility with an existing robot movement description language and constructing a robot movement description method. A method for structuring a robot motion description language, characterized in that: 2. A method for displaying a structured robot operation description language, characterized in that various data of a robot are displayed in an easily viewable manner by a data display method based on a tree structure to which the method according to claim 1 is applied. 3. A coordinate transformation is automatically performed on coordinate data displayed based on a tree structure to which the method according to claim 1 is applied by performing an intuitive operation using a pointing device. How to edit a structured robot motion description language. 4. A program step displayed based on a tree structure to which the method according to claim 1 is applied, by performing an intuitive operation using a pointing device,
A method for editing a structured robot operation description language, characterized by changing a step order.